History 2A

Introduce, analyze, and compare AT LEAST TWO theories for the rise of state-level society (also called “civilizations”).  How have the scholars approached this problem and what theoretical models have they used? What assumptions have they made, and how are their theoretical models a product of the intellectual environment in which they lived?  How does the actual mechanism of societal evolution work in their models? How well do these models fit the evidence from archaeology and the history of early civilizations?

Scholars whose theories we have read:

Lewis Henry Morgan

Karl Wittfogel

Robert Carneiro

Roy Rappaport

V. Gordon Childe

Please cite specific places in the texts and give these references in parenthetical format, e.g. (Carneiro, 733).

Expected Length 4 pages. No outside or internet sources allowed.